French Open: Altmaier defeats US Open runner-up Fritz in first round

German challenger stuns American star 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 for the first upset of this year's tournament

- STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE

US Open runner-up Taylor Fritz lost in the first round of the French Open as the tournament's No. 4 seed, eliminated 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 by 66th-ranked Daniel Altmaier of Germany in Paris on Tuesday (IST).

Altmaier broke Fritz's big serve five times at Court Simonne-Mathieu and ended the Californian's 15-match Grand Slam winning streak against players ranked outside the top 50.

Fritz's exit followed another by a top-10 American: No. 9 Emma Navarro was bounced from the women's bracket earlier on Tuesday (IST).

In September, Fritz lost the US Open trophy to Jannik Sinner, becoming the first U.S. man to reach a major final since Andy Roddick in 2009. In Paris, Fritz was the highest-seeded American man at the French Open since Roddick was No. 3 in 2007.

While hard courts are Fritz's preferred surface, he did have a run to the second week on the red clay of Roland-Garros a year ago, making it into the fourth round before losing to Casper Ruud.

This is not Altmaier's first big win at the French Open. He beat No. 8 seed Matteo Berrettini there in 2020, and Sinner in 2023.